Free online course · Change Management

Team Habits That Make Change Safe

When a teammate speaks up during an improvement project, your reply decides whether they speak up again. Learn three moves (thank them, act, close the loop) and build them into your team's briefs, huddles and debriefs. Then plan it for your own project.

• Free
• About 34 minutes
• Self-paced, online
• No sign-in
• 7-question knowledge check

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No sign-in. Your answers are counted anonymously to improve the courses. Add your name at the end for a certificate (it stays on your device); add your email there only if you want to hear from us. Signed in to AdoptionLab Campus? It opens on your account instead, so your progress is saved. From AdoptionLab.AI. Updated October 15, 2026.

What you will be able to do

• Identify when a teammate is raising a concern, whatever their role.
• Choose a reply that thanks the person and keeps them talking.
• Use listening moves in place of a defensive reply.
• Track each concern with an owner and a status until you report back.
• Plan a speaking-up moment for your project's brief, huddle or debrief.

Inside the course

1. Start here
   1. About AdoptionLab.AI
   2. The moment after someone speaks up
   3. What you will be able to do
2. Why your reply matters
   1. Why your reply matters
   2. Every role gets heard
   3. Hear the concern: CUS
   4. If they have to say it twice
   5. Spot the concern
3. Move 1: Thank them
   1. Thank them, specifically
   2. The first three seconds
   3. Thank the challenge out loud
4. Listen without defending
   1. Open or defensive?
   2. Small reactions that shut people down
   3. Say it back before you answer
   4. Swap "why?" for "what matters?"
   5. Case study: Cedar Ridge, part 7 of 8
5. Moves 2 and 3: Act and close the loop
   1. Move 2: Act, and follow through
   2. Case study: Visible fixes rebuild trust
   3. Give it an owner and a status
   4. Move 3: Close the loop
   5. Practice: close the loop
6. Build it into your routines
   1. Open with a brief
   2. Anyone can call a huddle
   3. Ask so people answer
   4. Be the first ally
   5. Practice: open the huddle
   6. The three-minute debrief
7. Check and apply
   1. Check yourself
   2. Your work task: plan and tracker
   3. What to take with you
   4. How AdoptionLab.AI can help your team succeed
8. Tell us what you think
9. Check and apply
   1. Sources

About this course

A free course from AdoptionLab.AI. Free, self-paced online courses from AdoptionLab.AI on the people side of quality improvement: change management for health care and human service teams.

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How to cite

AdoptionLab.AI. (2026). Team Habits That Make Change Safe [Free online course]. AdoptionLab Campus. https://campus.adoptionlab.ai/free/team-habits-that-make-change-safe

Rights

Free to take, and free to share by its link. The course’s wording, activities, examples and design are the original work of AdoptionLab.AI and are protected by copyright. Please don’t copy, adapt or republish them, use them as a template for other training, or use them to train AI models, without written permission. Quoting a short passage with a link back to this page is welcome.

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